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Executive Summary

Scope of this Report

This report aims to summarize the work performed during the entire project period of 9/1/1999 through 6/30/06 for a comprehensive account of the Building America Industrialized Housing Partnership (BAIHP) project. It describes in greater detail, the work performed during the last year of the contract, 4/1/05 through 6/30/06, as efforts prior to 4/1/05 are comprehensively documented in previous project annual reports. For the previous three annual reports, see:

• /pubs/year6/index.htm
• /pubs/year5/index.htm
• /pubs/year4/index.htm

BAIHP Team

The BAIHP team is the only university based Building America team competitively funded by the US Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy-Building Technologies program. BAIHP began work on September 1, 1999 with a focus on improving energy efficiency, durability, and indoor air quality of new industrialized housing.

The BAIHP team is comprised of:

• Florida Solar Energy Center (Lead)
• Washington State University Energy Program (WSU)
• University of Central Florida Industrial Engineering (UCFIE)
• Florida Home and Energy Resources Organization (FL H.E.R.O.)
• Calcs-Plus

In addition the American Lung Association, North Carolina A&T University, D.R.Wastchak, Oregon Dept. of Energy, Idaho Dept of Water Resources and the Blue Sky Foundation were subcontractors in prior years. The Florida Energy Office and the NorthWest Energy Efficiency Alliance provided cost share funding in the early years of the project. The project website is www.baihp.org.

Background

Industrialized housing includes manufactured housing (built to the HUD code), modular housing (factory built housing modules assembled on site), panelized/kit housing (factory built sub-assemblies put together on site) production housing (site built housing produced in a systematic manner). Figure E-1 shows 2005 U.S. home production by sector.

BAIHP work includes:

• Technical Assistance
• Field and Laboratory Research
• Training and Education
• Collaborations
• Project Management

Figure E-1.  2005 Census data shows 2.0683 million housing starts (site built) and placements (manufactured) Note: Total exceeds 100% because of disagreement among sources on total starts Sources of Housing Starts Statistics: Multi-Family: http://www.census.gov/const/startsan.pdf Site Built and Modular: http://www.census.gov/const/C25Ann/sftotalconstmethod.pdf Manufactured Housing Placement: http://www.census.gov/const/mhs/mhstabplcmnt.pdf

BAIHP Technical Assistance

The BAIHP team provided technical assistance to a wide variety of home manufacturers, builders, developers, and industry suppliers including Habitat for Humanity International and its affiliates throughout the nation. Site builders receiving technical assistance are located primarily North and Central Florida.

BAIHP also collaborates with suppliers and non-profit organizations See Table E-1 for a list of BAIHP Industry Partners. Industry Partners list is kept updated at /partners/index.htm

Systems engineering forms the core of the Building America approach. BAIHP industry partners evaluate the integration of their construction standards and consider improvements that enhance energy efficiency, durability, indoor air quality, and health.

In providing technical assistance BAIHP generally recommends improving equipment efficiency and reducing conditioning loads while taking durability and health issues into consideration. Some examples include:

Improving Equipment Efficiency

• High efficiency, correctly sized heating and cooling equipment
• Water heating efficiency
• Duct system design and construction
• Appliances
• Lighting efficiency

Reducing Conditioning Loads

• Orientation, shading, and window characteristics
• Surface heat gain (roof finish)
• Thermal, moisture, and air barrier envelope  

Durability and Health Issues Considered

• Fresh air ventilation
• Moisture control and dehumidification
• Pressure balance and return air flow
• Materials selection
• Maintenance

It is the combination of these improvements that enables the BAIHP industry partners to achieve high performance homes like those documented in Table E-2, Homes Built in Partnership with BAIHP.

BAIHP tracks Industry Partners production in 4 categories:

• Category A: Homes meeting the Building America program goal of saving at least 30% of whole house energy use compared to the 2005 Building America benchmark, incorporating fresh air ventilation, and including superior durability and health features. HERS ‘99 Score results are greater than 88.6.
• Category B: Homes meeting the EPA Energy Star criteria for saving 30% of heating, cooling, and water heating energy use.
• Category C: Homes with energy efficiency improvements falling slightly short of the EPA Energy Star criteria for saving 30% of heating, cooling, and water heating energy use. HERS ‘99 score of approximately 85. Also homes designed and built to this level or higher but not specifically rated and tested by BAIHP.
• Category D: Manufactured homes built with substantially leak free ducts (QnOUT £ 0.03). This category may include some Category B and C homes

Since inception, BAIHP has assisted home builders and manufacturers to construct:

• 20,445 homes built to Energy Star level or better (Category A and B, Table E-2)
• 14,991 homes built 30% to 50% better than the HUD code - approx 5% below Energy Star (Category C, Table E-2)
• ~98,250 manufactured homes with airtight duct systems (Category D, Table E-2)

These homes are estimated to save over $17 million annually in reduced energy bills for their owners.

 

Table E-1. BAIHP Industry Partners (Present and Past)

HUD Code Home Manufacturers
Cavalier Homes CAVCO Industries LLC Champion Homes (Redman) Champion Homes (Silvercrest) Clayton Homes Fleetwood Homes Fuqua Homes Golden West Homes Guerdon Enterprises Hi-Tech Homes Homark Homes Homebuilders North West	Homes of Merit Karsten Company Kit Manufacturing Liberty Homes Marlette Homes Nashua Homes Oakwood Homes Palm Harbor Homes Skyline Corporation Southern Energy Homes Valley Manufactured Housing Western Homes
Modular and Panelized Builders
Avis America Homes Cardinal Homes Discovery Homes DuKane Precast Inc. Epoch Corporation Excel Homes General Homes	Genesis Homes Nationwide Homes Penn Lyon Homes Royal Concrete Concepts The Homestore Trinity Construction Corp.
Production Builders
All America Homes American Energy Efficient Homes &    Investments Inc. AMJ Construction Arvida Homes Atlantic Design and Construction Bobek Building Systems, Inc Cambridge Homes Centex Homes Dye Company DR Horton	GMD Construction Co. G.W. Robinson Builder New Generation Homes by Kingon Inc. On Top of the World Patrick Family Housing, LLC Podia Construx Regents Park (Condominiums) Rey Homes Tommy Williams Homes WCI Communities Winton/Flair Homes
Affordable Housing Builders
East Dakota Housing Alliance City of Gainesville, FL City of Lubbock, TX City of Orlando, FL Habitat for Humanity International	Homes in Partnership HKW Enterprises Miami-Dade Hope VI Project Sandspur Housing (Apartment builders) Williamsburg (townhouses)
Custom Builders
All America Homes of Gainesville, Inc. Energy Structures & Systems, Inc. Fallman Design and Construction L.F. Custom Homes Marquis Construction & Development, Inc. NatMax	New Generation Homes by Kingon Inc. Pruett Builders, Inc. Scott Homes Spain Construction Stitt Energy Systems Timeless Construction
Developers
Castle & Cooke East Bay Development Company of FL    LLC (Formerly Midgard Associates)	Kashi Church Foundation, Inc.
Research, Education, and Industry Association Partners
Auburn University School of Architecture Building Science Consortium Florida Green Building Coalition Florida International University, 2005 Solar Decathlon Team Florida Solar Energy Research and    Education Foundation IBACOS, New American Home (Goehring   Morgan Construction) Not-So-Big-House, (Sarah Susanka, AIA)	Northwest Energy Efficient Manufactured Housing Program (NEEM) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Portland Cement Association RADCO, Inc RESNET Structural Insulated Panel Association Stevens Associates (Home Ventilation Institute) Washington Manufactured Housing Assoc
Industry Suppliers
Allsolar Service Company Inc. Basement Systems, Inc. Bellview Air Beam Industries Classic Products Energy Conservatory Flexible Technologies GreenStone Industries	Hard Cast Heat Pipe Technology Honeywell Icynene Inc. LaSalle Air Systems Minority Development Resource Group SSHC Inc. Style Crest Products Tamarack Technologies, Inc

 

Table E-2. Homes Built in Partnership with BAIHP (through 06/06)

 

Manufactured Housing Research

BAIHP has found that using the systems engineering approach to help Industry Partners solve building science related problems develops a strong working relationship and increases the likelihood of the Partner incorporating concepts central to achieving Building America goals such as sealed and tested ducts, right sizing air conditioning, and moisture management. BAIHP’s work with the manufactured housing industry illustrates this principal.

BAIHP conducted research for manufactured homes in both field and laboratory which is reported in the following summaries in the main body of the report:

• Building Science and Moisture Problems in Manufactured Housing - Background
• BAIHP Field Visits to Moisture Problem Homes
• Manufacturers Participating in Building Science Research
• Side By Side Study Of Energy Use And Moisture Control Comparing Standard Split System Air Conditioning And A Coleman® Prototype Heat Pump, Bossier City, LA
• WSU Energy House
• Zero Energy Manufactured Home (ZEMH)
• Manufactured Housing Indoor Air Quality Study
• Manufactured Housing Laboratory – Ventilation Studies
• Side by Side Manufactured Housing Energy Use Study, North Carolina A&T
• Portable Classrooms
• Duct Testing Data from Manufactured Housing Factory Visits
• Crawl Space Moisture Research for HUD Code Homes
• Recommendations for FEMA Ruggedized Manufactured Home for Temporary Housing
• Comboflair Integrated HVAC System

Site Built Housing Research

Industry Partners rise above “business as usual” production to strive toward the Building America program goals of saving 40% of total energy use while improving durability, indoor air quality, and comfort. BAIHP assists the builders, much as described in Section II, Technical Assistance, but goes on to instrument and collect relevant data to validate the approach.

BAIHP conducted research for site built housing which is reported in the following summaries:

• Building America Prototype, Cambridge Homes
• Unvented Attic Study, Rey Homes
• Sharpless Construction, Hoak Residence Energy and Moisture Studies
• Zero Energy Affordable Housing, ORNL and Loudon County Habitat for Humanity
• Apartment Ventilation and Humidity Study with Sandspur Housing
• Federation of American Scientists’ Rasbach Provident Home
• Radiant Floor Heating Research
• Hurricane Water Intrusion Research
• Hurricane Retrofit Research

Field and Laboratory Building Science Research

BAIHP builds on a 20 year foundation of basic building science research at the Florida Solar Energy Center. This research generally focuses on issues important in hot-humid climates similar to Florida’s but is relevant to our understanding of building science concepts manifest in all climatic regions. BAIHP has conducted field and laboratory building science research in these areas:

• Air Handler Air Tightness Study
• Air Conditioning Condenser Fan Efficiency
• Fenestration Research
• Reflective Roofing Research
• Return Air Pathway Study
• Heat Pump Water Heater Evaluation
• NightCool - Building Integrated Cooling System
• Plug Load Reduction Study
• Solar Integrated Roofing Panels
• Hot Water Distribution Systems Research
• Building America Benchmark Toolkit for Programmers
• Comparison of Current Building Energy Analysis Standards for Building America, Home Energy Ratings and the 2006 International Energy Conservation Code
• Cooling Performance Assessment of Building America Homes

BAIHP Training and Education Summary

BAIHP research is communicated to public and industry audiences through the BAIHP web page, conference papers and presentations, and various media coverage. Training events are listed in reverse chronological order.

BAIHP has presented research findings and Building America systems engineering concepts to a variety of audiences including architects, builders, HUD Code home manufacturers, and housing decision makers; construction trades and realtors; attendees at building science conferences; portable classroom producers and decision makers; energy raters and green home certifiers, and college students in academic venues.

The BAIHP web page offers access to any interested parties with presentation of case studies, research, publications, and partnership summaries with links to our partners’ web pages, BAIHP monitored data pages, and BAIHP case studies.

BAIHP Collaboration

BAIHP researchers collaborate with a variety of entities in the homebuilding industry and the energy efficiency and research realm including DOE National Labs, Code and Standards Bodies, and Industry/Professional Organizations, Universities, and Product Suppliers. BAIHP research has provided data to update the NFPA codes that serve as the basis for the HUD code

BAIHP Project Management

BAIHP project management includes participating in Building America program reviews/meetings and preparing monthly and yearly reports for project activities as well as managing all project tasks (see Sections 1-6) and subcontracts. In the 5th Budget Period, BAIHP also held a Project Review Meeting at FSEC in January 2004 to give interested parties an opportunity to give feedback to the project management team. BAIHP participated in DOE’s Peer Review process in June of 2006. BAIHP Peer Review submittals for technical systems are available online at: /pubs/doe_review/index.htm

Project Contact

Subrato Chandra, BAIHP Project Director Florida Solar Energy Center 1679 Clearlake Rd, Cocoa, FL 32922 321- 638-1412

www.baihp.org www.fsec.ucf.edu subrato@fsec.ucf.edu

 

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